Submerged power-wheel



e. w. JOHNSTON. SUBME RGED POWER WHEEL. APPLICATION man FEB. e. 1919.

' Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

. UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. JOHNSTON, or ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

To all whom it mayconcem: 3

Be it known that I, Gnononlv. JoHNs'roN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submerged Power- Wheels, of which the following is a full and exact specification.

This invention relates to submerged power devices and one of theobjects in view is to provide a construction which will be adapted provision whereby the said foundation may be released by hydraulic pressure forthe purpose of lifting the foundation in case it should be desired to remove the same.

A further object is to provide a construction making use of an adjustable supporting structure for theworking parts and adapted to be vertically alined after the foundation has been set in position.

A still further object is the provision of aplurality of power wheel units 'rnounted on the same supporting shaft and adapted to be angularly adjusted with reference to each other about the same shaft or axis.

Another object 111 view is to provide a suitable construction of this character which will be adapted to be operated about either a vertical or horizontal axis.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved construction of arm for carrying the folding blades of the water wheel whereby the arm is arranged to form suitable stop faces for the blade sections on folding into inoperative position, the opposite faces of the arm being somewhat wedge shaped to overcome to a large extent the resistance of the .water as the armsmove against the action of thewaves or current.

lVlinor objects will appearin the course of the detail description. I

"With the foregoing general objects in view the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing showing one form of construction which has been devised for embodying the SUIBMERGED POWER-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 23 1920 Application filed February 6, 1919. Serial 110. 2754399.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the power wheel units;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of one end of one of the folding wheel blades;

Fig. i is an enlarged sectional detail view of the hub portion of one of the wheels; and

F ig. 5 is a plan view on a smaller scale showing the arrangement and construction in connection witlra walled water channel and illustrating the arrangement of the power wheel devices on both horlzontal and vertical axes.

Referring to the said drawing in detail, this illustrates in Fig. 1 the arrangement of the construction in submer ed relation to a body of water, of which the water line is represented by the numeral 6 and the bot tom or bed of the water course by the numeral 7. A foundation 8 is provided the form of a frame or casting having an inner compartment 9 adapted to be filled with concrete material 10 through a pipe 11 from above the water surface, which pipe may of course be conveniently detached af ter the filling operation is completed. The foundation 8 is alsoformed with a bottom open compartment 12 having connected therewith a pipe 13 whereby a. vacuum may be formed in said compartment 12 for the purpose of anchoring said foundation securely in position. lVhen desired at any time to remove the apparatus, including the foundation, this may be accomplished by first releasing the vacuum action in said compartment 12 and then applying hydraulic pressure through Said pipe connection 13 in conjunction with any desired type of hoisting means which may be used for liftingout the apparatus The top of the foundation 8 is. formed with a bearing recess or socket 14 within which is mounted a ball 16 which supports the lower end of a shaft17, Said ball 16 being retained within the socket 14: by means of a yoke 18 and bolts 19. The shaft 17 carries a collar 20 secured thereto, which collar constitutes one member of a ball bearing for supporting the power wheel units, the other, member of which ball bearing structure is formed as a flanged collar 21 the depending flange portion of which forms a skirt or housing for protecting the collar 20 and the antifriction balls 22 which extending radially from one of a plurality 15 of" hubs, each hub comprising a pair of clamplng rings 26 for embracmg the inner ends of the arms and held in clamped relation by means of bolts 27 engaging a clamping plate 28' and a flange formed integral with one of the sections of a sleeve 30 supported by the shaft l7,the said clamping rings 26 and the several plates 28 being slid-ingly mounted on the sleeve sections' 30. Each of the arms 25 is so shaped 25' as to .form stop faces 31' adapted to limit the opening movement of the blades 23, the opposite faces of said arms 25 being made approximately wedge-shape in cross-section in order to facilitate the movement of said arms against the action of the current or waves.

The lower end of the lowermost sleeve section 30' is supported in the collar 21 and the adjoining ends of the several sleeve sec tions 30 are clutched or interlocked by means ofrat'chet teeth as indicated at 32 in Fig. 1 for securing adjoining sections in fixed relation and at the same time permitting the angular adjustment of the several sections for't'he purpose of so mounting the different wheels in such relative positions that the water movements or' currents resulting from the action of neither wheel will in any wise interfere or disturb the operation of the other.

The upper end of the upper sleeve section 30 is journaled in. the outer end of an overhanging frame 33 projecting from a dock or pier 34, the said sleeve section carlying at its upper end a bevel gear 35 adapted to mesh with a similar gear 86 journaled on a horizontal shaft 37 mounted in suit able bearings 38- and 39 and provided with a cli tcl'i element 40.slid-ingly keyed on said shaft and equipped witha suitable clutch lever' fl and operating connection 42.

In. the operation of theabove described construction, with the wheels mounted as shown in Fig. 1,- and the current flowing i-nthe'direction' of-the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2,.the vvheel's will'be rotated in the direction in whichthe wedge-shaped sides of the arms 255 face, or in a counter-clockwise direction withreference to the wheel shown in Fig. 2 7 Obviously, as the folding blades 23 pass center under the action of the current they immediately fly to open position said opening movement beinglimited by the stop faces 31 of the arms 25. On passing center on the opposite side of the wheel, the said folding blades are free to swing closed again, and the movement of the parts counter to the action of the current is facilitated by the wedge-shaped faces of the arms 25 until they again pass through center into open position as before. The manner of installing the foundation enables a secure and rigid base to be conveniently placed in position and the ball joint construction at the lower end of the shaft enables the axis of the wheels to be trued up into proper and approximately vertical alinement. This. together with the angularly adjustable connection between the sections of the sleeve 30, 1)lO"l.(lGS a construction in which all the working parts may be readily and conveniently installed in their most eilicient working relation. It will of course be understood that the power derived from the wheels action will be transmitted through the shaft 37 to any desired location and apparatus for use.

In- Fig. '5 is shown a construction illustrating the manner of installing the apparatus in a walled channel in which the currents of the stream are confined to a restricted path between side walls into which the water flow is directed by converging entrance walls 51 through a gateway controlled by a gate 52 which may be open or closed at will by any suitable means (not shown). On entering the channel the current is directed to one side thereof. 2'. what may be termed the working side of the channel. by

means of a suitable deflector structure 53 built just inside the entrance to said channel. Adjacent the said entrance to the channel is mounted one or more of the power wheels as above described and operating on an upright or vertical shaft 54 (the transmission connections therefrom being omitted for clearness of I illustration), an adjustable brace beam 55 being arranged across the channel for supporting the upper end of said shaft 54 from the side walls 50 of the channel. Further down the channel is mounted a horizontal shaft and sectional sleeve structure carrying one or more of the same construction of water wheels submerged within the water flow of the channel and provided with transmission connections substantially as above outlined.

In the operation of the power plant as outlined in Fig. 5. the current is of course directed to what may be termed the working side-of the channel (so far as the wheels mounted on a vertical axis are concerned) by means of the deflector structure 53. which is of special advantage in connection with the wheels operating on avertical shaft inasmuch as this produces a more quiet condition of the water on the opposite side of the channel and results in less resistance to the movement of the folding blades during the time that they are traveling in folded or inoperative position.

It will thus be seen that I have devised a comparatively simple and eflicient form of construction and arrangement for carrying out the desired objects of the invention, and while I have illustrated and described what I now regard as the preferred form of construction I desire to reserve the right to make all such formal changes or modifications as may fairly fall with the scope of the following claims:

Having described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A submerged power plant construction comprising a foundation having a concrete filling compartment adapted to be filled from above the water surface and an open bottom compartment adapted to exert a vacuum anchoring action upon the bed of the water course and; provided with a pipe connection communicating with a point above the water surface, and power wheel devices supported by said foundation.

2. A submerged power plant construction comprising a foundation adapted to be supported on the bed of the water course, power wheel devices provided with a supporting structure carried by said foundation and having a ball connection therewith permitting angular adjustment of said supporting structure with reference to the foundation.

3. A submergedpower plant construction comprising a foundation adapted to be supported on the bed of the water course, and power wheel devices provided with a supporting structure carried by said foundation and including a rotating sleeve for each power wheel, said sleeves being connected by means permitting individual angular adjustment of the several sleeves about the axis of rotation of said power wheels.

4. A submerged power plant construction comprising a foundation adapted to be supported on the bed of the water course, power wheel devices provided with a supporting structure carried by 'said foundation and including a rotating sleeve section for each power wheel and means permitting relative angular adjustment of the several sleeve sections and a ball-bearing support for the lowermost of said sleeves.

In Witness whereof I affix my si nature.

GEORGE W. J OH STON. 

